I've lived in plenty of places, and having been a journalist, I keep an ear attuned to regional "slang" (for lack of a better term) unique to each place I've lived.

For example:

1. In Alabama, a "buggy" is a "grocery cart" anywhere else in the country. "Y'all" (abbrev. for "you all") really is in common usage. Instead of asking for food "to go" you ask for it in a "to-go box."

2. In Montreal, you don't ask for a hamburger or hot dog with "everything on it," you ask for it "all dressed." It's not a "convenience store," but a "depanneur" (sp?). It's not "shopping off the grocery list," but "doing an order."

3. In Southern England, it's "All right?" instead of "How are you?" Lots of other differences, of course, but the ones that jump out at me now are asking for "20 cigarettes" at the store rather than "a pack" and "building society" rather than "credit union."

What kind of regional differences are there in English where you're from?

03-29-2003, 07:08 AM

nlmcp

They use the term buggy for grocery cart here also...but there are so many old southerns in SE Michigan, that could be the reason for that.

In the Upper Pennesula of MI, the term "Yea hey" means Hello. I don't have an accent until I go home and some one says to me "Yea hey Nance, holy waa, ya have a long trip hey" Which someone always says to me.

That reminds me of a funny story about the first time I ever ummmm procreated with my ex-wife back when I was still talkin my fake Southern accent that I had picked up in my 5 years down there... but it's kind of "adult" so I'm not sure this is the best place to tell it, but I think you can figure it out.

Also in the South everything is Coke. Someone can ask you what you want to drink, and if you say Coke, they will ask you what kind.

And yes, it's true... in the Great Midwest, they do say "You betcha"

03-29-2003, 08:59 AM

John

Pop instead of soda (took a while to make the switch when we lived in Florida), sub instead of hoagie or grinder.

03-29-2003, 09:06 AM

raindance

Here in Singapore we don't say 'Malls', we say 'shopping centres'.

Not 'cell phone' or 'mobile' (although I always use 'cell phone'), we say 'handphone'

If someone is slow on the uptake, we say that person is 'blur'

Of course, in Singapore, we have own own very unique form of Singlish :)

03-29-2003, 09:22 AM

holly71

hazy ~ yup! EVERY soda is "Coke"

"What would you like to drink?"
"Coke"
"Which kind?"
"Dr. Pepper"
:lol

My husband lived in Minnesota most of his life, so he always calls soda "pop"

And I HATE "fixin'!" Unfortunately, I have picked up that stupid term. I tried to make a conscientious effort to not use it, but it kept creeping back into my vocabulary, so I gave up :shrug

"I'm "fixin' " to go to the store. Do you want anything?"

And here's another one: "pick up" as in "clean" or "straighten up"

"My house is such a mess. I need to "pick up" around here."

Also, some people here have such a "twang" that some words come out REALLY WEIRD! Like "warsh" instead of "wash" WTF?
:confused:

I say "y'all" all the time. I think I picked up on that term the first minute I moved here (lived in Tejas since the age of 7). I'll still say "you guys" sometimes too though. I got soooo ragged on for that when I first moved here. The girls at school would say "I'm not a GUY, I'm a GIRL!" :rolleyes: So incorporated "y'all into my vocab REAL QUICK! If I have leftovers at a restaurant, I do ask for a "to go box" :lol I never gave it any thought! I have also heard grocery carts called buggies & every once in a while I'll refer to them as such, but not too frequently.

I can't think of anything else right now. I've lived here so long, that phrases & terms just don't jump out at me too much unless someone points them out or I visit another place.

03-29-2003, 09:26 AM

John

How about the eternal "in line" versus "on line" debate?

We say "in line" here. I was standing in line...

I know New Yawkers say "on line", and I just don't get it. you're not standing on a line, you're standing IN a line.

03-29-2003, 09:33 AM

holly71

Hmmm. I don't know which one I say...I never paid attention to it!

03-29-2003, 10:53 AM

JR.

Here the most obvious is the hatred for the letter "R", we'll replace it with "AH" whenever possible :D

People use "wicked" to describe things as in: That's a wicked cool caaahhh.

03-29-2003, 11:35 AM

Eden

Where I grew up, in Cincinnati, you say "please?" when you didn't hear what someone said. I've never been anywhere else where people do that.

Ohioans also end sentences with unnecessary words. "Where's my purse at?" A lot of them also say "warsh" instead of "wash." (as in the capitol of the U.S. -- Warshington!) But few people in Cincinnati pronounce the name of their city "Cincinnata," although the rest of the world often does.

Buggy is also used in Texas, as is the ever-present "fixin' to." My native Texan hubby calls the refrigerator the "icebox" and soft drinks "soda waters." When he's going to lay down the law with someone, he says he's going to "teach them how the cow eats cabbage."

I've said "y'all" my entire life and am known to also say "all of y'all." We heard a football player on tv once say "all of y'all dawgs" and I took a fancy to saying that as well!